Simulating High Flux Isotope Reactor Core Thermal-Hydraulics Via Interdimensional Model Coupling
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2014 Simulating High Flux Isotope Reactor Core Thermal-Hydraulics via Interdimensional Model Coupling Adam Ross Travis University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Mechanical Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Travis, Adam Ross, "Simulating High Flux Isotope Reactor Core Thermal-Hydraulics via Interdimensional Model Coupling. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2014. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2759 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Adam Ross Travis entitled "Simulating High Flux Isotope Reactor Core Thermal-Hydraulics via Interdimensional Model Coupling." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Mechanical Engineering. Kivanc Ekici, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Jay Frankel, Rao Arimilli Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Simulating High Flux Isotope Reactor Core Thermal-Hydraulics via Interdimensional Model Coupling A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Adam Ross Travis May 2014 Copyright © 2014 by Adam Ross Travis All rights reserved. ii To God, first and always: I am nothing other than what He has made me capable of being. To my parents: If I am able to make good on an ounce of that potential in my life it is because I am the man you raised me to be. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest thanks and gratitude to Dr. Kivanc Ekici for his encouragement and belief during my tenure as an undergraduate, his unwavering support as my graduate advisor, and the infectious passion which he has always brought to his work. I am similarly indebted to Dr. Jim Freels of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for his constant guidance and mentorship throughout this project. Special thanks as well to Dave Renfro of ORNL for agreeing to fund my work. All thesis-related work was funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Further information can be obtained at http://nnsa.energy.gov/ Additional thanks to Dr. Rao Arimilli and Dr. Jay Frankel both for acting as members of my committee and for contributing to the invaluable lessons, both curriculum-related and not, that I have learned at the University of Tennessee. I wish to express gratitude to those peers who have become close officemates and even closer friends. Thanks to Franklin Curtis for showing me my way around a Linux terminal, to Emily Clark for agreeing with whatever I had to complain about on any given day, and to Kelsey Turley whose unrelenting work ethic kept me in the library on many occasions much later than I would have stayed on my own. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents Mike and Leigh and my siblings Chloe and Henry for their steadfast support and loving encouragement in every endeavor I set myself to. iv Abstract A coupled interdimensional model is presented for the simulation of the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the High Flux Isotope Reactor core at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The model consists of two domains—a solid involute fuel plate and the surrounding liquid coolant channel. The fuel plate is modeled explicitly in three-dimensions. The coolant channel is approximated as a two- dimensional slice oriented perpendicular to the fuel plate’s surface. The two dimensionally-inconsistent domains are linked to one another via interdimensional model coupling mechanisms. The coupled model is presented as a simplified alternative to a fully explicit, fully three-dimensional model. Involute geometries were constructed in SolidWorks. Derivations of the involute construction equations are presented. Geometries were then imported into COMSOL Multiphysics for simulation and modeling. Both models are described in detail so as to highlight their respective attributes—in the 3D model, the pursuit of an accurate, reliable, and complete solution; in the coupled model, the intent to simplify the modeling domain as much as possible without affecting significant alterations to the solution. The coupled model was created with the goal of permitting larger portions of the reactor core to be modeled at once without a significant sacrifice to solution integrity. As such, particular care is given to validating incorporated model simplifications. To the greatest extent possible, the decrease in solution time as well as computational cost are quantified versus the effects such gains have on the solution quality. A variant of the coupled model which sufficiently balances these three solution characteristics is presented alongside the more comprehensive 3D model for comparison and validation. v Table of Contents I. Background ........................................................................................................................................ 1 A. Reactor History ............................................................................................................................ 1 B. Design Overview .......................................................................................................................... 1 II. Motivation ........................................................................................................................................ 4 A. Global Threat Reduction Initiative ............................................................................................... 4 B. Goals of the Coupled Model ......................................................................................................... 5 C. Previous Implementations of Interdimensional Coupling ............................................................ 6 D. Past Uses of CFD in Reactor Core Modeling .............................................................................. 7 III. HFIR Fuel Plate Design ................................................................................................................ 10 A. The Basic Involute ..................................................................................................................... 10 B. Select Alterations to the Basic Involute: .................................................................................... 16 C. Geometry Creation ..................................................................................................................... 24 IV. COMSOL Overview ..................................................................................................................... 30 V. 3D Model ........................................................................................................................................ 33 A. Construction ............................................................................................................................... 33 B. Inputs .......................................................................................................................................... 36 C. Physics ........................................................................................................................................ 41 D. Meshing ...................................................................................................................................... 51 VI. Coupled Model .............................................................................................................................. 57 A. Construction ............................................................................................................................... 57 B. Inputs .......................................................................................................................................... 58 C. Interdimensional Model Coupling .............................................................................................. 62 D. Physics ........................................................................................................................................ 70 E. Meshing ...................................................................................................................................... 71 F. Paneling ....................................................................................................................................... 73 vi VII. Results ......................................................................................................................................... 76 A. Error Evaluation ......................................................................................................................... 76 B. 3D Model Mesh Convergence ...................................................................................................